Sustainable agriculture
With the majority of the agricultural land in the Alinytjara Wiluṟara (AW) Region occurring in the Great Victoria Desert, a heavy emphasis on sustainability and climate change resilience is essential for pastoral enterprises.
The pastoral areas of the region occur in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, with more than 14,600 km2 currently used for the APY cattle business, and in Yalata with investigations beginning into the feasibility of re-invigorating a sheep farming enterprise.
The Alinytjara Wiluṟara Landscape Board has received Australian Government funding to support sustainable and climate smart agriculture programs through the following:
- Climate Smart Agriculture Program – Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator Program – Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Carbon Farming Outreach Program – Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Soil Extension Officer Program – Landscape Priorities Fund, Department of Environment and Water, SA.
Sustainable Agriculture Facilitators (SAF) (2024-28)
The Alinytjara Wiluṟara Landscape Board employs two Sustainable Agriculture Facilitators to:
- Engage and inform farmers, landholders, community groups, and agriculture industries within their region about climate-smart, sustainable agriculture practices
- Facilitate partnerships and connections that will assist farmers, landholders, community groups and agriculture industries to work together to achieve sustainable agriculture outcomes
- Support the delivery of sustainable agriculture projects in their region.
The APY SAF works with Aṉangu and land managers and support them with management decisions for sustainable pastoral enterprises.
The APY SAF has a critical role to engage with Aṉangu and land managers in language to explain the recommendations of the Sustainable Pastoral Development Plan and the importance of longer-term planning and decision making for the benefit of country and of Aṉangu. The APY SAF works closely with the APY Pastoral Manager to understand key concepts to share with Aṉangu and land managers and to encourage land managers' involvement in climate smart and sustainable agricultural activities for training and development opportunities.
The AW SAF, based in Adelaide, provides support to the APY SAF with project management and coordination to ensure the project outcomes are delivered effectively and on time. The AW SAF supports the APY SAF to share information to Aṉangu and land managers on relevant government information, policies, programs, and tools, upcoming funding and training opportunities. The AW SAF also works with other Aṉangu and land managers in the southern AW region to deliver information on best practice natural resource management, biodiversity and carbon markets.
Carbon Farming Outreach Program (2024-26)
The two-year Carbon Outreach Program will deliver training and advice to empower Australian farmers and land managers, including First Nations peoples, to participate in carbon markets and integrate low emission technologies and practices into their farming operations and land management practices. The training package is being developed and provided by the Australian Government.
The objectives of the program are:
- Support farmers and land managers to make decisions to reduce emissions
- Build capacity of trusted advisers to deliver independent advice
- Facilitate access to clear, consistent and culturally appropriate information on carbon farming and low-emissions technologies and practices.
Key Outputs for landholding authorities:
- Year 1 Land Manager Training: 1 day training events (5 per region)
- Year 2 Land Manager Training: 1 day training events (5 per region)
- Extension support to maximise land manager uptake of carbon farming and low-emissions technologies and practices.
Soil Extension Officer Program (2024-25)
The Landscape SA Soil Extension Project 2 aims to empower land managers to take responsibility for their soil health, resulting in improved productivity, profitability and environmental outcomes. It will equip land managers with an understanding of the latest soil science and the skills and knowledge to translate soil test results into on-farm actions that improve soil health and address the constraints of the soil. This includes understanding opportunities and constraints for soil carbon sequestration in native vegetation.
The project employs seven soil extension officers working across all eight landscape board regions of South Australia, covering a total of 984,321 km2. The soil extension officers form the core of a community of practice network, and work collaboratively with land managers, industry and agriculture groups, soil specialists and researchers across the state to deliver extension activities, including education resources, demonstration sites and case studies.
